A controversial gas extraction technique that has galvanized protest by environmental and community groups has also created a happy band of supporters: farmers who’ve become rich by leasing their land.

The investigative news magazine “60 Minutes” examined the way hydraulic fracturing, which involves breaking up shale to free natural gas, has turned farmers into instant millionaires — or as they refer to themselves, “shaleionaires”. Farmers typically receive large lease payments in addition to a cut of gas sales for years to come.

While some hail hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, as a way to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and dirty coal, opponents fear that chemicals used to break up rock could poison subsurface drinking water supplies.

Last year in Louisiana, 17 cows grazing near a drilling site died after drinking fracking fluids that ran into their pasture.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently asked nine companies to disclose what chemicals they are using in fracking. All agreed to comply except Halliburton, forcing the EPA to subpoena the information.

As the cement contractor for the doomed BP oil well, Halliburton also has been implicated in the April explosion that killed 11 workers and spilled an estimated 200 million gallons of oil.

The film “Haynesville” is going to be playing on CNBC Nov 23 and 28 at various times. It’s a documentary abot how the natural gas boom in Louisiana affected the lives of the people in the area and about the role natural gas can play in our energy future.

These Fracking Companies need to be regulated. The water supply will be destroyed if they keep drilling for Natural Gas with these TOXIC CHEMICALS. Not to mention the Toxic Plumes we are breathing. They are paying these poor farmers and land owners to use their land to make profits at any cost. How do we let them drill for oil in our oceans and have the accidents like in the Gulf. They will run wild if let be. Profits is what matters to these Companies. Lets force them to be responsible and not use these Toxic Chemicals. As far as I know, only water and sand was used in the old days. I’d like to know if these chemicals are also being used in our oceans. We the People Need to Stand Up!!!!!!!

It’s NOT “tens of thousands” of gallons of water – it’s MILLIONS of gallons of water for EVERY fracking process, water which has been toxified ALREADY – again, let’s repeat – MILLIONS of gallons of GOOD water DESTROYED for EVERY FRACKING!!! That toxic water – toxified with thousands of pounds of chemicals, is then driven into the shale to release the gas. Then the waste fracking fluid is put into ponds to evaporate the toxins into the air…

We are killing ourselves to stay within our comfort zone of a materialistic lifestyle…

U.S. labor investigators recovered $240.8 million in back wages for American workers last year amid an intensified crackdown on pay abuses in low-skill industries.

That newly released total – which reflects the amount of back wages that employers agreed to pay, or were ordered to pay, following government investigations – amounted to $890 per affected worker.

However, a recent report prepared for the Labor Department suggests that the back wage recoveries only scratch the surface of what underpaid workers actually are owed.

The report by Eastern Research Group, issued in December, estimated that in California and New York alone, minimum wage violations in 2011 cost workers at least $32.7 million a week—or about $1.7 billion a year. At least 50,000 families in the two states suffered income losses due to minimum wage violations, and at least 14,800 families were brought below the poverty level, the report found.

An attempted crackdown on wage and hour violations on two Oregon berry farms has ended in a retreat by the U.S. Labor Department, which dropped all charges against two growers it had accused of failing to pay the minimum wage to about 1,000 workers.

The case has brought scrutiny to one of the Labor Department’s most potent weapons—the “hot goods” provision of federal law that allows it to halt the interstate shipment of goods produced in violation of wage laws. It is often used to fight alleged wage theft in the garment industry, among others.

With an estimated $5.5 million dollars worth of highly perishable blueberries on the line, the Oregon farms–Pan American Berry Growers and B&G Ditchen LLC–were threatened with a court order during their 2012 harvest. It would have barred them from shipping their produce unless they paid back

A father and his 2-year-old son at a gun rights demonstration last March in Austin, Texas (Photo by Erika Rich)

After being thwarted in Congress following the 2012 school shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn., gun control activists have scored some important victories in states around the country.

One of the biggest wins came in Washington State. In November, voters by a wide margin approved a state ballot measure extending, to gun shows and other private firearms transactions, a requirement for buyer background checks.

But which side has the momentum in the struggle around the nation pitting advocates of tighter controls against supporters of expanded gun rights? That remains a tough call.

With the clash now a state-by-state fight, the dueling camps make competing claims about who has gained ground and who figures to fare better in the years immediately ahead.